UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

Hampshire Carp Anglers

Posted on December 31, 2018 by richardhandel

Come join my Facebook Group

Hampshire Carp Anglers

Public group · 16 members

Join Group Hampshire Carp Anglers

Anyone welcome

Richard

Please subscribe to my Video Diary

Please follow my Facebook Pages

Hampshire Avon Days

Hampshire Carp Fishing

Hampshire Pike Fishing

Richard Handel Fishing

Carp Fishing Tackle on Ebay

GOOGLE yOUTUBE

deeper_black_preview

30674118493_d6b8516350

screenshot_20181010-121430_facebook

Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment

2018 Review

Posted on December 30, 2018 by richardhandel

This year started off very hard, with the passing of my mum just before Christmas 2017. We then visited my dad in Wales a number of times over the following months. Oh and don’t forget ‘The Beast from the East’ and a load of snow.

It put pay to a slow start in March and the incredibly hot Summer my start on the airfield lake was very slow and hard going.

20180929_064711

This continued through the summer and in the end, I was catching fish, however, they were mostly all around the 10lb mark. I only managed to scrape a couple of low twenties from there. I know you can’t pick which carp pick your bait up (unless you are floater fishing) but it was getting silly by the end. I wasn’t the only one having this issue, as the lake is mostly very shallow, I don’t think the carp like the hot water temperatures for all that time. They just took sanctuary under the trees which in general are in the out of bounds areas. We shall see next season!

20180810_174810

In these conditions, I gave up earlier than normal and headed over to Meadow Lake. This is when my year turned around for me. Right from the start in the form of a new PB Common & Mirror and some other stunning 30+ carp.

20180922_051312

This all goes to show that if you work hard and don’t lose faith in your ability to catch, the results shine through.

Spotted Fin is going from strength to strength and produce a pukka hook bait – Squid & Pepper. I was lucky to be part of the testing and it certainly produced some great fish over the months and still is late into December. It will be very interesting to see how it competes with the mighty Catalyst over the winter months. Overall, I have done very well with my consistency of catching and once I changed the lake, the bigger fish arrived. My year was pretty good all round. In the end, I did fish less than normal due to family stuff this year but that was to be expected really and next year may be a bit of the same until my dad moves closer to the family. These things take time and are all part of the every day fisherman’s life on and off the bank.

P.S

I have received some amazing news just before the Christmas break from Pele at Spotted Fin. I am now part of the consultancy team, which is truly amazing and I can’t wait until 2019, to get stuck into some new product testing.

Until next year

Happy New Year

Richard

Please subscribe to my Video Diary

Consultant For

Follow me @richardhandel

GOOGLE yOUTUBE

Carp Fishing Tackle on Ebay

screenshot_20181010-121430_facebook

Please follow my Facebook Pages

Hampshire Avon Days

Hampshire Carp Fishing

Hampshire Pike Fishing

Richard Handel Fishing

Come join my Facebook Group

Hampshire Carp Anglers

What happened to the lost Deeper Sonar?

Posted on December 30, 2018 by richardhandel

Definitely worth a read and could be very useful to anyone with a Deeper

https://deepersonar.com/uk/en_gb/blog/deeper-in-an-english-lake-for-4-months

deeper_black_preview

Posted in Carp fishing, deeper, Deeper Pro Plus | Leave a comment

Trip 73 Carp Fishing- 2018

Posted on December 29, 2018 by richardhandel

I was not sure if I would get out again before Christmas or even into the New Year. My dad had been down for 10 days, as it was this time last year when my mum passed away. Also with the weather being mild and settled, I was trying my best to fit in the last of my gardening jobs for this year. The build-up for Christmas was in full swing and the kids had now broken up for school.

20181221_195600

My wife kindly agreed that I could go as it was nearly two weeks ago I was out feeder fishing for the day and I was getting twitchy! With Christmas only days away, it would be another week before I could go out.

We had had a lot of rain, the river was in flood and the otters had been spotted on the lake. Unfortunately, no fence for this syndicate – another story for another day.

This would not help things and with the water also up in the lake, the temperature of the water would surely be down. With these conditions, I just had to be on the back.

Swim choice was going to be a hard one. The bank where the wind would be pushing hard into was very close to where the otters would be. At this time of year, they tend to like the island and the backwaters area of the lake, which is also out of bounds. Previous years, the carp had shown up at the other end of the lake which is at the back of the wind today. It was a more open water area and the downside is there where no real features to fish to. Last winter, I had spent a lot of nights in a swim that had a great view if this area. Even at night, as there was a farm with lights on which helped to create a reflection on the water. You could clearly see fish topping in the night. I just can’t find an area that produces pick up regularly enough to give me confidence in this area. I know they are there, I just need to keep plugging away and it will come together soon.

There is one spot in the swim I picked and that was one with a nice drop of in, this has produced a couple of fish over the year but I just can’t find another spot. Maybe this weekend will be the one?

I had frozen my leftover feeder mix from the other week, so I added some chopped up boilies and whole ones to the mix. For something completely different, half a bag of sweetcorn and then I Spombed out this into that area. I knew from my records how many wraps were needed and for good measure, I put a PVA bag filled with pellets and Liquid attracts out on this rod. There was also a Black pepper & squid Wafters on, with a couple of Evo fake Maggot Cluster.

The other rod was much the same but cast not too far out at the bottom of the margin shelf. I would be looking into where to put that rod first thing tomorrow morning with my Deeper.

20181222_100609

The night past with a sign of Mr Carp and it was time to get my thinking cap on. If I was going to catch a carp this weekend, the sun was out (which I did not expect) and the wind was a lot lighter now. The pressure had gone up to 1019Mb which I can live with. I must say, after all the rain this week, it was certainly nice to see the sun shining one more.

20181222_100442-EFFECTS

After spending an hour with the Deeper and the marker float, I was happy with my original spot. I topped up the swim with the last of my feeder mix.

20181222_115737

As most of it would be gone by now, as the mix was mostly micro peace and would have broken down very quickly and left only the corn and a few whole boilies, when people say don’t bait up much in the winter mouths it must be confusing to beginners, as this is generally the cast with boilies, however micro pellets and ground bait with soon get munched up by small fry, this also applies to microParticle, something to write about in the new year I feel.

With the baits were they where I was feeling pretty confident and the change of a pickup. This was until the rain arrived, sometime in the early hours and continue until just after 8am. I have found out this lake I don’t catch when it’s raining! I do on other lakes and got soaked in the process of netting fish. Maybe, it’s too much wishing not to get a take in the past that’s finally come to fruition! Lol

Its nearly time to be off, the last brew is on and its time for some Christmas fun. Not sure if this blog will be live by then – so I hope you all had a go one and I will see you all in the New Year (unless I can fit another trip in).

Until next time

Richard

Please subscribe to my Video Diary

Carp Fishing Tackle on Ebay

GOOGLE yOUTUBE

deeper_black_preview

30674118493_d6b8516350

screenshot_20181010-121430_facebook

Posted in Aqua Fast & Light, Asso Fishing Line, Betafin Pellets, Carp fishing, Catalyst pellet, Course Fishing, deeper, Deeper Pro Plus, Delkim Buzzers, evolution carp tackle, Finygo, Fishing, Fishing App, Fishing Video's, lake fishing, maggot cluster, NSR 50, photography, Ronnie Rig, Smokey Jack, spomb, Spotted Fin, The Catalyst, weather reports, winter, winter fishing | Leave a comment

Hopes and Dreams for 2019

Posted on December 29, 2018 by richardhandel

After the ups and downs of last year – after the start I had, who could have predicted I would end up with 2 PB carp. I am not really sure what to aim for next year.

img_20180907_142307_938

So I think I will aim for just one target and its always been there and that’s a forty+ out of the Airfield lake. This is where my heart is with fishing every year, searching for that unknown carp, that I am sure I’ve seen. Normally, over 300 yards away, happily playing in the out of bounds area!

20180811_082433

Not sure where I will go with the river. It’s been put on the back burner for the time being, it’s as a place to run and hide if the lake Syndicate goes pear-shaped. Things never stay the same forever, I do love the river. But things are still drawing me in that direction, there no real reason to give up until I feel that my time is up.

20181208_101627